KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT Economics and Research Department s Priorities for

Transcription

1 About the Asian Development Bank The work of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is aimed at improving the welfare of the people in Asia and the Pacific, particularly the nearly 1.9 billion who live on less than $2 a day. Despite many success stories, Asia and the Pacific remains home to two thirds of the world s poor. ADB is a multilateral development finance institution owned by 65 members, 47 from the region and 18 from other parts of the globe. ADB s vision is a region free of poverty. Its mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their citizens. ADB s main instruments for providing help to its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance. ADB s annual lending volume is typically about $6 billion, with technical assistance usually totaling about $180 million a year. ADB s headquarters is in Manila. It has 26 offices around the world and has more than 2,000 employees from over 50 countries. KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT Economics and Research Department s Priorities for Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines Publication Stock No Printed in the Philippines

2

3 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT Economics and Research Department s Priorities for June 2006

4 2 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT INTRODUCTION New development imperatives point to the need to fine-tune the Economics and Research Department s (ERD) priorities for the coming years. Externally, policy makers are increasingly focusing on inclusiveness of growth in the fight against poverty, and the development community is looking for greater aid effectiveness. In the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the new Medium-Term Strategy (MTS II) has introduced changes to ADB s strategic priorities given the rapidly changing environment in the Asia and Pacific region. President Haruhiko Kuroda has called on the institution to become even more relevant, responsive, and results-focused, 1 and a number of initiatives have been introduced under the ADB Reform Agenda. 2 ERD PRIORITIES FOR Sustaining growth Broadening its inclusiveness Strengthening development effectiveness ERD IN RETROSPECT: Going forward, ERD must build on its strengths and address weaknesses in the context of limited staff and budgetary resources. In these circumstances, ERD must remain highly selective in its focus. As new initiatives are introduced, careful consideration must be given as to how resources can be released from other areas. Opportunities for synergy should be tapped ever more and teamwork streamlined within the department. The years 2003 to 2005 showcased strengths that ERD has developed over the years: Strong in-house capacity to produce policy-oriented, quality research on a wide range of development issues Developing country policy makers, donors, civil society, and ADB staff are ERD s key clients. Initial but concrete steps in integrating the results of research into ADB s everyday operations Skills in communicating ERD s knowledge products to a wide audience, in partnership with the Department of External Relations Strengthened collaboration among ERD staff in both the production of research outputs and provision of advisory services to other ADB departments 1 Haruhiko Kuroda Building on Momentum: A New Era of Development for Asia and the Pacific. Address by the ADB President to the Board of Governors, 38 th ADB Annual Meeting, 4 May, Istanbul, Turkey. 2 The Reform Agenda seeks to enhance the development effectiveness of operations by reforming policies, strategies, programs, and processes. It consists of 19 ADB-wide reform initiatives to deliver five key result areas related to internal changes and realignment: (i) improving operational policies, strategies, and approaches; (ii) mainstreaming managing for development results; (iii) refining organizational process and structure; (iv) reinforcing knowledge management; and (v) improving human resources management and staff incentives.

5 Economics and Research Department s Priorities for THE CHANGING MILIEU FOR ERD Mapping out ERD s priorities for requires an awareness of the changing setting that ERD faces. As a major knowledge department in ADB, two key dimensions of this milieu are: (i) critical development challenges of developing Asia, and (ii) ADB s evolving strategic priorities. Critical Development Challenges of Developing Asia The Asia and Pacific region recorded impressive economic growth during the past 5 years. However, much of the growth is yet to be translated into poverty reduction in many countries. There is also evidence of increased income inequality in many parts of Asia. Even under optimistic assumptions, the projected prevalence of chronic poverty in 2015 means that the economic dualism will stay for many years.

6 4 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT Critical development challenges for developing Asia: The growth of developing Asia needs to be more inclusive to significantly reduce poverty, and the key to achieving this is job creation. The private sector will need to play a greater role in sustaining growth and creating jobs for Asia to remain competitive and dynamic. Sustaining growth, attracting private investment, and creating jobs also require putting in place necessary infrastructural facilities. Enhancing long-term energy efficiency, seeking alternative energy sources, using natural resources in a sustainable manner, and protecting the environment are critical. The changing demographic profile leading to the potential of a significant demographic dividend offers a major opportunity in some developing member countries (DMCs) but needs to be managed. Investing in and empowering people will be critical in mainstreaming the bypassed and the marginalized. ADB s Evolving Strategic Priorities While poverty reduction is ADB s overarching objective, its strategic priorities have evolved in response to the changing development environment. First, together with its development partners, ADB has stepped up the quest for greater development effectiveness. ADB has signed the Joint Marrakech Memorandum on Managing for Development Results, the Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics, as well as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Second, the MTS II has introduced some strategic measures as the initial steps of a more comprehensive, longer-term ADB response to emerging development challenges of the region. The MTS II has identified five strategic priorities: (i) catalyzing investments, (ii) strengthening inclusiveness, (iii) promoting regional cooperation and integration, (iv) managing the environment, and (v) improving governance and preventing corruption. A distinct strategic approach is being developed to assist weakly performing countries. Beyond the MTS II, ADB will continue to be transformed from a financial to a knowledge and financial intermediary. Large-scale rural urban migration and urbanization are bringing new challenges of governance, service provision, and urban planning and development. Developing Asia still has a long way to go in improving governance and strengthening public institutions. Increasing integration of developing Asia within the region and with the rest of the world not only offers great opportunities in terms of more trade and foreign capital but also poses new challenges from more competition, more risks, and greater vulnerability to external shocks.

7 Economics and Research Department s Priorities for ERD S PRIORITIES FOR ERD s priorities must be congruent with and should cascade down from the MTS II. It is axiomatic that ERD s strategic program must be relevant and client-centered, and draw on ERD s core competencies. Mindful of constraints on staff and budgetary resources, the department s work program will also have to be selective. To ensure effectiveness, ERD s program must complement the activities of other knowledge centers in ADB. Finally, its program should look for opportunities to extend ERD s influence and impact through effective internal and external partnering. Improved results and impact will mean working more effectively and doing better, rather than doing more Key Result Areas For , the key result areas are presented in the chart, which depicts the linkages between (i) knowledge creation; (ii) operational application of knowledge, outreach, and dissemination; and (iii) measurements for knowledge. These three key result areas will serve as the backbone for ERD s work program for Before any research activity is undertaken, ERD reflects on four critical questions: Why is the issue important to ADB? Which parts of ADB and which stakeholders attach importance to this issue? What are the options available to address the issue? What are the expected outcomes of the research? Knowledge Creation As ADB s research department, ERD generates state-of-the-art knowledge that emphasizes responsiveness and relevance by applying knowledge and distilling the lessons of practice into knowledge that can serve as a platform for policy recommendations applicable to developing countries within and outside the Asia and Pacific region. Policy research is a major channel through which ERD serves its key clients

8 6 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT STRENGTHENING STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL RELEVANCE OF ERD RESEARCH Key Result Areas Long-term growth Inclusiveness Prospects and policies Knowledge Creation Goal: Augment knowledge on key challenges facing Asia Knowledge Application Improve quality-at-entry Advisory services Learning programs Outreach and dissemination Goal: Contribute to designing effective interventions to strengthen development effectiveness Goal: Maintain and enhance database for knowledge generation Macro and micro data International Comparison Program Statistics Portal Statistical capacity building Measurements for Knowledge

9 Economics and Research Department s Priorities for TWO MAJOR AREAS OF ERD RESEARCH Constraints to long-term economic growth and inclusiveness in developingasia Short- and medium-term economic prospects at the regional and country levels Work in the above two areas is expected to contribute toward understanding and strengthening ADB s development effectiveness. Long-term Economic Growth and Inclusiveness Poverty reduction requires strengthened growth and broadened inclusiveness. A better understanding of the constraints to growth and inclusiveness will contribute toward identifying effective strategies to ignite and sustain growth. ERD has already demonstrated a strong capacity for empirical research on constraints to longterm growth. It will continue to strengthen this research during the next 3 years through crosscountry comparative analysis and country-specific case studies. The department will develop research topics from the following priorities: Asia s new growth patterns Behind-the-border trade costs and trade dynamics in Asia Human capital, population, and demographic changes in Asia Binding constraints to growth in selected DMCs Constraints to growth Identifying binding constraints to growth is a prerequisite for designing effective development strategies for DMCs and relevant and responsive country strategies and programs for ADB. Traditional literature of development economics highlights such growth constraints as low savings, inadequate infrastructure, low human capital, poor macroeconomic management, inefficient tax systems, excessive state planning, and government interventions leading to various types of market distortions and inefficiencies. Recent literature has added weak institutions and poor governance, particularly as causes for the failure of conventional marketoriented policy reforms in generating growth. A growing consensus is that market-oriented reforms such as trade and financial liberalization, or privatization and deregulation, might not work without more serious attention to institutions, incentives, and country-specific conditions. 3 ERD will strengthen its research on designing interventions to relax binding constraints. This research will draw on economic theory, country experiences, international best practices, experiences of development agencies including ADB, and empirical results of case studies including those designed to assess impacts of development programs. 3 Dani Rodrik Growth Strategies. Harvard University.

10 8 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT ERD will integrate its work on the International Comparison Program, spatial disparities, and strengthening the comparability of household surveys to deepen the understanding on poverty incidence and its causes. Research topics will be chosen from the following areas of primacy: Measuring poverty and inequality in Asia Public expenditure effectiveness and inclusiveness Building social security and protection in Asia for broadening inclusiveness Country case studies on poverty and employment Constraints to broadening inclusiveness Inclusiveness magnifies the impact of growth on poverty reduction, particularly chronic poverty reduction, and is at the heart of ADB s institutional interests and strategic priorities. Inclusiveness also helps to make growth more sustainable. Good governance is a key determinant in broadening inclusiveness. Four important aspects of research on inclusiveness are: (i) measurement, (ii) causes of poverty and inequality, (iii) policies to promote decent and sustainable employment, and (iv) delivery of social services to the poor. ERD has built up its strength in estimating poverty incidence and analyzing the role of effective labor markets in poverty reduction. The priority research topics on constraints to growth and inclusiveness buttress all three pillars of ADB s Long-Term Strategic Framework (LTSF), and three out of the five medium-term strategic priorities (catalyzing investment, broadening inclusiveness, and improving governance). 4 ERD will focus on two topics each year during The inclusion of more topics than available resources can support gives ERD flexibility in selecting the most relevant ones in a rapidly changing environment. It also allows ERD to accommodate directional shifts that may result from the President s initiative on a review of the LTSF. Although ERD will continue to undertake cross-country research to identify good and bad practices at different stages of development, an important shift in ERD s approach to policy research will be an increased emphasis at the microeconomic level: understanding better the issues and constraints that affect decision making of economic agents in their local settings (i.e., households, firms, and farms). A deeper understanding of microbehavior is critical to the design of successful reform efforts. Short- and Medium-term Economic Prospects and Emerging Policy Issues ERD has acquired considerable strength in short- and medium-term economic policy analysis and modeling of significant events including macroeconomic and energy shocks, natural disasters, and public health emergencies. These activities draw on the strong analytical and communication skills of ERD staff and ADB s rich repository of knowledge about the region and individual country circumstances. 4 The three pillars of the LTSF are (i) pro-poor sustainable economic growth, (ii) inclusive social development, and (iii) good governance for effective policies and institutions.

11 Economics and Research Department s Priorities for ERD will continue its core work in short- and medium-term economic policy analysis and modeling, and add greatest value for clients by breaking new ground in terms of policy relevance. Strengthening the research content will leave fewer resources available for short-term macroeconomic monitoring and commentary on individual DMCs. Such a shift recognizes that, increasingly, these activities are being provided by ADB s resident missions, many of which now release their own quarterly economic reports and forecasts; and by investment banks and in-country thinktanks. The Office of Regional Economic Integration, by supporting regional monetary and financial cooperation initiatives, also provides regular commentary on high-frequency economic developments. Repositioning of the Asian Development Outlook to reflect these external and institutional realities and to leverage comparative strengths will be an important objective for ERD in , but must be done in a way consistent with broader institutional strategic thrusts, and with a clear understanding of where ERD can have greatest impact and value-added. Activities for short- and medium-term economic policy analysis and modeling include: Monitoring global, regional, and national macroeconomic developments (including performance and policies) in the Asia and Pacific region Supporting regional departments and resident missions in high-frequency monitoring, economic commentary and short-term forecasting for DMCs, and developing analytical tools and economic models Conducting rapid impact assessments of significant events and shocks that have a regional or subregional impact, and provide advice to Management on appropriate responses Extending analytical work on the broader relationship between impacts and responses, to short-run shocks and opportunities for longer-term growth Extending ERD s interests in commodity market issues, including those linked to energy Knowledge Application Development Effectiveness To better support ADB s strategic priorities and implementation of its commitments under various international initiatives on aid effectiveness, ERD will step up its analytical work on improving quality-at-entry in two main areas.

12 10 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT First, continue developing and improving methodologies. These include economic analysis of projects and programs and those associated with regional cooperation, with special attention on distilling new knowledge from the literature; gaining insights from ERD research; recommending good practices from ADB operations; and presenting these in the form of guidelines, handbooks, or technical notes. Second, partner with the concerned development community to keep abreast of new methodology on evaluation techniques for impact assessment for possible incorporation in ADB projects. Advisory Services and Learning Programs While ERD research helps identify binding constraints to growth in developing Asia, design effective development assistance interventions, and apply sound methodologies to assess economic viability of the proposed interventions, its advisory services and learning programs strive to ensure that insights from ERD research are disseminated for possible incorporation in ADB operations to improve quality-at-entry. Learning from successive retrospectives of economic analysis, ERD staff s advisory services are most useful at the country strategy and program stage or the technical assistance proposal stage when missions have the greatest potential to respond. In terms of knowledge application, ERD will focus on: Undertaking focused economic analysis retrospective reviews of ADB operations Reviewing country strategy initiating papers, country strategy and program papers, and technical assistance proposals to assist regional departments apply the findings of ERD research and economic analysis retrospective reviews Reviewing a Report and Recommendation of the President only to the extent of identifying how it has incorporated key issues from ERD s inputs in country strategy and program papers

13 Economics and Research Department s Priorities for The basic thrust of ERD s advisory services to its key clients is its commitment to disseminate research findings. Contributing to quality-at-entry gives ERD a stake in disseminating through ADB operations the newest thinking on economic development. The formal and informal interactions between ERD and the regional departments keep ERD staff informed about operations, ideally leading to relevant research. As another facet of disseminating its research findings, ERD will continue to improve and update its learning programs offered to ADB staff. During the next 3 years, ERD will deliver learning programs on: (i) economic analysis of capital investment projects, (ii) economic analysis of policy-based lending, and (iii) sector-specific economic analysis of capital investment projects. Outreach and Dissemination If knowledge creation is not matched with effective dissemination and outreach, its value is diminished. In recent years, ERD has made considerable progress in reaching a wider audience with its knowledge products. Experience has demonstrated that high-quality content, packaged with clear and relevant messages, attracts ready interest with top-tier media, the policy community, and civil society. Even as ERD activities have helped raise the visibility and profile of ADB, ERD will also examine ways in which it can better market its knowledge products and activities internally. A semiannual newsletter informing ADB staff on ERD s knowledge products will be considered. A particular focus of the research on strengthening development effectiveness will be the preparation of reference materials on economic issues of relevance to economic and sector work, sector diagnosis, and country strategy and program. In this way, ERD hopes to make a positive impact on quality-at-entry. ERD knowledge creation activities over the plan period will have an associated dissemination strategy, with knowledge products increasingly being tailored to the needs and interests of different audiences. ERD will continue to work closely with the Department of External Relations in improving outreach and dissemination.

14 12 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT ERD, as the regional coordinator for the 2005 International Comparison Program, has taken a lead role in the product specification and conduct of surveys to collect price data for the region. Outputs in the form of purchasing power parity estimates including those specific to poverty are expected in Measurements for Knowledge ERD s policy research on development needs to be supported by intensive analysis of survey data and other statistics compiled by national statistical offices. Better statistics were identified as a priority of the Reform Agenda both at the first and second Round Table on Managing for Development Results, and remain an important part of the Reform Agenda. Timely and reliable information is needed by the government, businesses, media, and citizens to make informed decisions. However, there exist severe data gaps and available data are of poor quality especially in weakly performing DMCs. Hence, a necessary step in improving monitoring and research on development effectiveness is to strengthen the capacity of the statistical offices in these countries. ERD as the focal point for statistical capacity building has developed a new approach that learns from the past to do better in the future. A critical task now is to ensure that this approach will be implemented in the weakly performing DMCs so that data gaps could be minimized. 5 To further motivate policy research in the region, ERD plans to make the Statistical Data Base System and the Poverty and Development Indicators Database accessible to external users through the ADB website. This represents the provision of a public good to DMCs and the development community by ADB. ERD s priorities in statistical data development and related capacity building during the next 3 years are: Enhancing the Statistical Data Base System and its responsiveness for its major users Expanding the coverage of the Statistics Portal to include all statistical resources available to ADB Expanding the survey data repository in the Statistics Portal Supporting the implementation of ADB s commitments related to statistics and related capacity building under various international initiatives Implementing the new approach to statistical capacity building especially in weakly performing countries 5 A credible database resulting from ADB s statistical capacity building would contribute to the implementation of ADB s distinct approach of assisting weakly performing countries.

15 Economics and Research Department s Priorities for IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS A number of collaborative endeavors during the next 3 years will ensure the effective implementation of these department priorities. First, the range of cross-division collaboration within ERD will be extended to optimize the utilization of the department s available resources under the existing organizational structure. Second, to enhance efficiency, develop synergy, and avoid duplication, ERD will reinforce its partnerships with other ADB offices and regional departments that also have a research and/or operational support mandate. Third, ERD will step up its efforts in networking with external research organizations in the region in a mutually beneficial way. In a meeting of minds, ADB s knowledge departments agreed to: Meet regularly to inform each other of research priorities, research findings, and future activities. Through these brainstorming sessions, an agenda of research for the knowledge departments could emerge. These meetings have already led to the preparation of the Work Planning and Budget Framework, which will present a unified work plan for the knowledge departments. Examine and discuss their work programs. By undertaking this review early, coordination will be improved, duplication avoided, and synergy catalyzed. Identify major research projects where collaboration and joint work would be undertaken. Work jointly to introduce a system of annual internal assessment and establish quality standards for their research outputs. Coordinate with the Department of External Relations on external dissemination. ERD currently consists of the Office of the Chief Economist (EROD) and three divisions, namely, Macroeconomics and Finance Research (ERMF), Development Indicators and Policy Research (ERDI), and Economic Analysis and Operations Support (EREA). The existing organizational structure and divisional responsibilities will be maintained. ERD will intensify promoting partnership and developing synergies within the department. The three divisions will work closely and in a seamless way in delivering departmental output. In the past few years, ERD has developed ways for staff from different divisions to team up and work on the same research project, and this has proven very effective in mobilizing available resources and expertise in ERD. During the next 3 years, research on constraints to and inclusiveness of long-term growth, in particular, offers great scope for such cross-division collaboration. While details on how ERD staff will collaborate in conducting these studies will be worked out as part of the ERD s annual work plan, it is expected that in the design, preparation, and delivery of its major research outputs, teams of staff from different divisions will be pooled. Given the spread of expertise across ADB s knowledge departments, the twin challenges of avoiding duplication and of developing synergies will need to be addressed Partnerships with Other Knowledge Departments The critical development challenges of developing Asia and ADB s evolving strategic priorities indicate that from the region s and ADB s points of view, the knowledge requirements are substantial. Other ADB departments and offices that also have a research and/or operational support mandate (notably, the Regional and Sustainable Development Department, Office of Regional Economic Integration, and the ADB Institute) will meet some of them.

16 14 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT In the delivery of advisory services to regional departments to contribute to ADB s development effectiveness, the focus will be on the direct application of ERD s research findings. These will be reflected in guidelines, manuals, and analytical reviews of economic and sector work to be made available to regional departments. Partnerships with Regional Departments A fundamental shift is proposed in the partnership between ERD and regional departments, namely, moving from quality control to quality support. ERD will bring its perspectives to the country strategy and program paper and technical assistance proposal stage when the opportunity for meaningful contribution is greatest. Comments on country strategy and program reports and project preparatory technical assistance reports will help Management judge the foundation of proposed projects. However, reviews of a Report and Recommendation of the President are of limited relevance since they come too late in the project preparation process to influence direction or design. Therefore, ERD will limit its review only to those issues raised earlier at the country strategy and program paper and the technical assistance proposal stage. The primary responsibility for ensuring the quality of proposed loans must rest with the regional departments processing the loans. During the plan period, effective ways to involve staff of regional departments in ERD research will be explored, including, for example, by inviting them to work with ERD staff on areas of mutual interest. While this is already happening, much more could be done. Advisory technical assistance programs that overlap with ERD s research priorities are possible avenues for operationally feasible collaboration. ERD s strategic shift to move upstream analytically by focusing on research that generates new knowledge and insights will be pivotal. Given the emerging interests and growing ability of ADB s resident missions, ERD will progressively cede its existing responsibilities for high-frequency monitoring, short-term forecasting, and associated commentary to resident missions. ERD will support this shift through the development of analytical tools, including economic and statistical models that would be made available to the regional departments and resident missions. Moreover, as the Asian Development Outlook migrates from a country focus to one that is thematic, regional, subregional, and comparative in focus, the opportunity would exist for teams of economists from the regional departments and ERD to partner in producing major research products. Through the Statistical Data Base System, ERD will provide a data repository and automatic report generation facility (e.g., key economic indicators, key social and environmental indicators in the country strategy and program papers) to the regional departments. The treatment of the annual publication Key Indicators of Developing Asian and Pacific Countries will be recalibrated to pursue a specialized focus and increased relevance to users, in particular, for ADB operations. Lastly, under the newly approved approach to statistical capacity building in weakly performing DMCs, while ERD will assist in designing technical assistance proposals and in providing technical expertise as needed, implementation will be the responsibility of the regional departments.

17 Economics and Research Department s Priorities for Other Partnerships With the Strategy and Policy Department The development agenda outlined by the Strategy and Policy Department contributed to establishing ERD s two research priorities of long-term economic growth and inclusiveness, and short- and medium-term economic prospects. ERD s research on longterm growth and inclusiveness issues can also provide new insights and perspectives that will influence and inform corporate perspectives about priorities and approaches that best serve DMC interests. With the Department of External Relations ERD has forged its partnership with the Department of External Relations, achieving highly prolific print and television coverages for ERD and ADB. This partnership has led to ERD s knowledge products being widely covered in top-tier print and broadcast media including editorials, significantly raising ADB s visibility, reputation, and authoritativeness. ERD will continue this close working relationship in packaging and disseminating ERD research products and extending its audience reach. With Economists in ADB The number of ADB economists outside ERD exceeds those within ERD by a factor of about 10. The challenge in the plan period is to encourage staff from the regional departments to participate in ERD s research initiatives. Common interests will be needed to seed fruitful collaboration. But meaningful collaboration will also require new ways of working together. The community-ofpractice approach could play a major role in creating critical mass in ADB for ERD s two major research areas. Networking with External Research Organizations Networking with external research institutions in the region, with national statistical agencies, and with other international development organizations will be essential both for disseminating knowledge created by ADB, and for leveraging knowledge created by others upon which ADB may draw. Networking with external research institutions is a costeffective way to tap in-country expertise and information. Local institutions may also sometimes be a more effective conduit through which ADB s knowledge products can be delivered. The challenge is to make partnerships work for mutual benefit. Successful partnerships will require that ERD staff be actively engaged in the design and implementation of joint research.

18 16 KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT MONITORING OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES For each of ERD s major deliverables, an outcome assessment approach will be specified ex ante as the basis for ex post assessment, and activityspecific monitoring variables will be built into each activity at the design stage. Annual assessments, drawing on these indicators, combined with other outcome and impact assessments will constitute the basis for a more robust accomplishment report for the entire plan period at the end of In monitoring results, ERD will pay attention to outputs and outcomes. Annual reviews of work plan implementation will be the main device to monitor ERD s outputs. To monitor outcomes, ERD will use peer review; feedback from ADB staff, DMCs, and other development partners; citation of ERD research by professional journals and documents of ADB, DMCs, and other development partners; media coverage; statistics on web downloads; external user surveys, and others. Knowledge is a precious asset today, and its productive application will spell competitiveness and ensure a people s advancement. Knowledge is also an essential input in strengthening the analytical underpinnings of ADB s corporate strategy and loan operations. Developing member countries have voiced their expectation of ADB as a knowledge intermediary. Views and positions adopted by ADB on the basis of sound research on relevant development challenges find a ready audience and raise ADB s profile. ERD s priorities have been determined to contribute to the creation and application of knowledge for the benefit of the region and ADB.